The swiftly changing seascape of ferry safety

Ship & Boat International: eNews November/December 2017

A leap forward in digitisation and technology, combined with fresh input from a new breed of architects, is helping to bolster ferry safety across the world. Dr Roberta Weisbrod, founder and executive director of the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association, reports on the group’s Third International Ferry Safety Conference, which was hosted in New York earlier this year.

The Worldwide Ferry Safety Association (WFSA) is in the midst of a decades-long quest to improve ferry safety – and, more specifically, to reduce ferry fatalities and to expand ferry service wherever in the world practicable. To that end, we commission, research and sponsor an international student design competition for a safe, affordable ferry, collaborate on innovative future-oriented projects and convene an international ferry safety and technology conference.

The Third International Ferry Safety Conference, which was held in New York between 11 and 12 May 2017, not only presented the latest in digitised technology and telematics in use but also featured technologies currently in development, such as Google Glass Nav and 3D- printed weather monitors for ferries. The future was also well represented by student presentations and the winning teams of the fourth international student design competition for a safe, affordable ferry.